My sig line comes from my interest in the formation of gun laws. I wanted to know how come the laws are the way they are and what was the motive and the political atmosphere at the time when they were drafted and signed into law.
It is amazing how bordering states could have such radically different laws. Like Kentucky verses Illinois. New Hampshire verses Massachusetts. New Jersey versus Pennsylvania. Ironically one of the better states for gun rights (Kentucky) was also the first to have a gun control law signed into in 1813 restricting conceal carry.
http://concealedguns.procon.org/sourcefiles/concealedhistory.pdf
I spent quite a bit of time researching the history of New Jersey's gun control laws. I have friends who still live there and NJ is so out of step with the rest of the country and I wanted to see why this was the case.
The person who drafted NJ's 1966 gun control law (which requires fingerprints, references, criminal and mental background checks, fees and long waits for an ID card) ... was Attorney General Arthur Sills. Sills also helped give Thomas Dodd ideas and input when Dodd was drafting the 1968 Gun Control Act.
In fact I need to do a synopsis of the hearings for the New Jersey's 1966 martial law approach to gun control. It was a fascinating read how the hearings were conducted and how opposition to the bill was marginalized.
Before 1966, NJ was pretty much like other states in the U.S. with the exception of handguns which needed a permit to purchase since 1954. Although one could legally purchase a handgun in another state through interstate commerce before 1968 GCA.
Massachusetts and Illinois forearms card schemes got their inspiration from New Jersey's Firearms ID Card law in 1966. Illinois started their Firearms card scheme in 1968. Massachusetts was later, although I don't have the exact date on that.
About 1967 is when New York City started requiring people to have a license to own a rifle, supposedly Mayor Lindsey at the time was one of the people behind the law. Of course New York's Sullivan Law was probably the most widely known early gun control legislation from 1911.
